December 30, 2012

I had a considerable amount of tenkasu (also called agedama) in the freezer, and I wanted to use it up before the New Year. I measured it and it was 120 g in total. Tenkasu is a byproduct of making tempura, but you can make tenkasu intentionally, and you can also buy premade tenkasu in a supermarket. I don't remember how many tempura making sessions I did to get this amount of tenkasu. I guess the tenkatsu was a result of making tempura for supper for at least five times.

Note: The ratio of (flour + water) to cabbage should be about 1:1, but I made a mistake of mixing the flour + water and cabbage at a ratio of 2:1. I don't know why, but the okonomiyaki turned out fine.

It may be hard to see from the photo, but I sprinkled a generous amount of ao nori first, followed by a generous amount of katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings), chuunou sauce, and ketchup. No mayonnaise for me. Humble okonomiyaki by any standard, but I was satisified with it.

December 23, 2012

I brought all the other dried persimmons to the kitchen, wondering what to do with them. I searched the Internet for an answer.

残りの干し柿を全部、台所に持って来て、どうしようか考えました。ネットで答えを探しました。

Eureka! Freezing persimmons will remove astringency from them! I put the permissions in the freezer right away. Today, about one week later, I asked my son if he wanted to try one. Of course, I told him about the possible risk! My son had it, and said it was good! He soon took two others out of the freezer and had them, too.

December 22, 2012

Today, I have finally bought a pack of three le Lectier pears for 398 yen. (I have waited for this time to come!)
今日はやっと、ルレクチエ３個パックを398円で買いました（この時が来るのを待ってました！）

One important characteristic I learned from this webpage (Japanese only) is that, unlike with apples, salt water is not effective in preventing this pear from discoloration. Another is that the skin of this pear is thin, so you can eat it without peeling.
このウェブページで知った重要な特徴は、りんごと異なり、塩水を使ってもこの梨の変色は止められないこと、ともう一つは、この梨の皮は薄いので、皮をむかなくても食べられることです。

You may find this article interesting.
この記事を面白いと思うかも知れません。
The difference from La France was obvious. Le Lectier is much more fragrant and flavorful.
ラフランスとの違いは明らかでした。ルレクチエのほうがずっと香りが良く、美味しいです。

December 20, 2012

Yuan yaki refers to a yakimono (grilled dish) made by first marinating slices of fish, for example, in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, and sake (for example, equal amounts of them), usually plus slices of yuzu (or other citrus fruit), and then grilling. It is said that yuan yaki was invented by Kitamura Yuan, a master of tea ceremony in the Edo period.

One big difference is that Kewpie Mayonnaise contains yolks only while Kewpie Half contains whole eggs.

大きな違いは、キューピーマヨネーズには卵黄だけ、キューピーハーフには全卵（ぜんらん）が入っていることです。

Kewpie Mayonnaise has 100 kcal per 15 g, while Kewpie Half, as the name implies, has 50 kcal per 15 g.

キューピーマヨネーズは15 g当たり100 kcalで、キューピーハーフは名前の通り、15 g当たり50 kcalです。

I happen to be a fan of Kewpie Mayonnaise. (Kewpie Half is not half as good!) Kewpie, which released mayonnaise in 1925 for the first time in Japan, holds a dominant market share in Japan (about 60% according to some sources), followed by KENKO (yolk-only mayo) and Ajinomoto (whole egg mayo).

The other day, I got a call from my father, who said he would send us another box of foodstuffs. I asked him to include shougoin daikon if he had any left. The box contained one shougoin daikon, as well as two other smaller daikon. I thought they were nezumi (lit. mouse, rat) daikon. I called my father to thank him and asked what the small daikon were. I was right. They were nezumi daikon.

For comparison, I took a photo of the two varieties of daikon with one aokubi daikon (top).

Nezumi daikon is a specialty of Sakaki machi, Nagano prefecture. My father comes from Nagano, and likes this particular daikon variety. It is a very pungent variety, and according to several websites, it is not only pungent but sweet, and the local people describe the flavor as "ama mokkura".

Nezumi daikon is often grated and squeezed to get the juice. To the juice are added Shinshu miso, negi, katsuobushi, and other ingredients. The juice is served with udon. This dish is called o-shibori udon.

December 17, 2012

The other day, I found wari boshi daikon sold at the supermarket. I bought one bag without thinking what to do with it.

wari < waru = to break up, to divide

boshi < hosu = to dry

先日、スーパーで割り干し大根が売ってたので、何にしようか考えずに１袋かいました。

Wari boshi daikon is similar to kiri boshi daikon, but is thicker.

kiri < kiru = to cut

割り干し大根は切り干し大根に似ていますが、切干し大根より太いです。

Today, I decided to make harihari zuke with it. I searched for recipes, and tried a 1:1:0.3 ratio for soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. (The original recipe called for a 1:1:0.5 ratio, and I was sure that this would result in a sweet pickle.)

Ingredients:

80 g wari boshi daikon

100 ml soy sauce

100 ml vinegar

33 ml sugar

8 x 8 cm kombu

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

Directions:

1. Wash wari boshi daikon, and soak in a bowl of water for 30 min. or so to reconstitute.

On November 18, I started to hang astringent persimmons (shibu gaki) in the garage to dry. Although I made sure that the window and the door of the garage were slightly open all the time, I have not yet succeeded in drying them to a satisfactory level as of December 15.
11月18日に、車庫で渋柿を干し始めました。常に車庫の窓とドアを少し開けていましたが、12月15日現在、まだ十分なレベルまで干せてません。

(Sorry for the bad photo.)
（ヘタな写真ですみません。）

Anyway, I thought I should taste some, and brought two of them into the kitchen.
ともかく、試食すべきだと思い、二つだけ台所に持って来ました。

I expected that they would taste great because they were a bit like anpo gaki (semi-dried persimmons, made by first fumigating with sulfur and then drying), but
あんぽ柿（硫黄で燻蒸（くんじょう）してから干した、半生の干し柿）にちょっと似ているので、すごく美味しいと思ったのですが、anpo gaki/あんぽ柿のイメージ

after three bites, I learned that the persimmon had not have its astringency removed!
三口食べてから、渋が抜けていないことに気付きました！

Needless to say, I brushed my teeth soon after I took the photo above!
言うまでもなく、この写真を撮ってからすぐ、歯を磨きました！

December 16, 2012

After watching a TV program featuring tanba imo (a type of yama imo, literally, mountain yam) last night, my son said he wanted to have tororo (grated yam). For supper tonight, I decided to make a tororo dish. I asked my son which he wanted to have, tororo meshi (cooked rice) or tororo soba (buckwheat noodles). He replied, "Tororo meshi". So, I bought two packs of tuna sashimi, together with yamato imo (a type of mountain yam). (I wanted to buy tuna cut into chunks, but I couldn't find any.)

Some sites say that rod-shaped yamato imo are now more popular, but I myself haven't seen such yamato imo.

棒状の大和芋のほうが今では人気だと言うサイトがありますが、私自身はそんな大和芋は見たことがありません。

My son and I decided to grate half the yamato imo for supper tonight and use the other half to make tororo soba for supper tomorrow.

息子と相談して、今日の夕飯には大和芋を半分おろして、明日の夕飯には残りの半分をとろろそばを作るのに使うことに決めました。

I put 200 ml water to a pot, added some instant dashi and soy sauce, and brought to a boil. After it cooled, I asked my son for help. I added the broth in small amounts at a time, and my son mixed the grated yam and the broth. We stopped adding the broth when we thought the texture was right.

The other day, I got a box of Sun Fuji apples from my father. My father comes from Nagano (aka Shinshu), which is famous for its apples.

先日、父からサンふじりんご（リンゴ、林檎）を一箱もらいました。父はりんごで有名な長野（信州とも）の出身です。

28 pieces in total.

全部で28個。

Fuji is the most popular apple variety in Japan, and is also popular in China and the United States. In Japan, Fuji apples are cultivated with "bags", and Sun Fuji refers to Fuji apples cultivated without bags. As the name implies, Sun Fuji apples get a lot of sunshine while growing, and are flavorful than Fuji apples, but are inferior in appearance and shelf life.

In Japan, these translucent, yellow portions, called "mitsu" (lit. syrup) of an apple, are highly praised. These portions contain sorbitol, and are actually less sweet than other portions of the apple. Most Japanese mistakenly believe that these portions contain syrup, and some may even consider that syrup is injected into the apple, using a syringe.

You may find this article interesting. In the United States, watercore-laden apples are considered defective. Anyway, apples with mitsu in them are highly mature, sweet ones, and I myself am a little disappointed when I don't see mitsu in apples.